Some prior fasteners of metal have a metal rod projecting from and attached to a separate metal base plate by complementary threads, a threaded nut, or a weldment. Such a fastener can be used as a striker for a vehicle door latch, or a shoulder anchor for a vehicle seat belt. Examples of door latch strikers are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,273,480 and 6,267,421 and examples of anchors for shoulder seat belts and mounting bolt structures for brake actuators are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,779,270 and 5,787,794, respectively, and incorporated herein by reference. Typically, the stamped plate is mounted to the chassis of the vehicle and the pre-mounted rod, threaded lug or striker projects therefrom to serve a particular attachment, connector or retainer function.
In all of these applications, the plate-to-rod connection or fastener must be reliable and capable of withstanding considerable load and without fracture. To meet these requirements, the anchor has typically been manufactured from numerous parts with numerous manufacturing and assembly steps which contribute to the overall cost of the anchor. For instance, known methods of securing a rod to a stamped plate include first forming threads on a base end of the rod, placing the base end through an aperture in the plate and then threading a nut onto the threaded base end. Another method includes manufacturing a striker sleeve having inner threads, then threading a bolt into the sleeve from the opposite or inward side of the plate. Other methods include butt welding the rod to the plate, and another method includes press fitting separate collars over the rod, inserting the rod through an aperture in the plate to bear on the collars, and then welding or causing plastic deformation of the end of the rod to engage the opposite side of the plate.
Strikers of door, hood and trunk latches in automotive vehicles are typically secured to the body via the stamped base plate which has a hole at each end for receiving a pair of threaded bolts which thread into the vehicle body. Often, the holes are elongated to permit some positioning adjustment of the projecting rod with respect to the body. The base plate of the striker typically has two apertures positioned between the two bolt mounting holes for receiving end portions of the rod which is generally U-shaped. Securing the rod to the base plate is not a one step manufacturing process and often requires additional parts. For instance, prior to inserting the ends of the U-shaped rod through the apertures in the base plate, separate collars are press fitted to each end or formed unitarily onto each end portion via some additional step of stamping. Once the collars are press fitted, or stamped, only then is the plate fitted to the U-shaped rod and appropriately located or seated via the press fitted or formed collars. After the base plate and the U-shaped rod with the formed collars are pre-assembled, they are attached together by welding or by two additional collars or buttons formed on the opposite side of the base plate by hot upsetting in a welder, staking in a press, or by an orbital riveting or staking process.
Manufacturing and assembly of the first two collars requires additional steps in the manufacturing process which contributes to the overall cost of the striker or latch catch. Moreover, the strength of the striker is dependent upon the questionable reliability of the weld, or can be influenced negatively by internal stresses created during press fitting, upsetting and staking processes. Yet further, collars formed in secondary operations have a problem with dimensions on collars to be unequal in length or thickness causing location to the stamping to vary. When the finished assembly requires parts to be over molded with plastic or insert molded the problem is magnified.